To the Seven Churches, pt. 3: Smyrna

God expects his people to suffer. We don’t like to talk about that very much in America, because we’ve enjoyed such wonderful religious freedom. But if you study the New Testament, it’s quite plain that Christians will suffer. This is because we are participating in the sufferings of Christ. He is using the sufferings to perfect us.

The Christians at Smyrna were suffering because the Jews were turning them in to the Roman authorities. Jesus sent this message of encouragement to them through the book of Revelation.